The Questers: Harmonious
The Questers: Harmonious is a TQ Short revolving around Ava Bankowski. ---- It begins, unlike most things in Ava's rather tumultuous life, with a lull in the atmosphere. After any given quest, Ava would often situate herself on the couch in The Questers' HQ, either with or without Zack, and rest her weary bones with long-desired sleep. On average, the nap tended to end at three hours, but the number was known to fluctuate in accordance with how strenuous the quest was. Michael, Kyra, and Natalie knew this, and they also knew that waking her would result in some incident of varying catastrophe. This is not one of those days. Michael is the first to reach the cabin, out of happenstance or not, and after opening the door he fell none too gracefully on the recliner chair next to the couch. He doesn't even cast a look at the tarantula in the corner before he falls asleep. Ava jumps on the couch and closes her eyes as if she's sleeping, but the exhaustion she should feel doesn't arrive. She knows it's because of her conversation with Annie a few days prior. She's been mentally prepping the conversation she needs to have with Zack, like Annie suggested, since then, yet every time she thinks of what to say she it doesn't feel right. As if he'd be mad at her over it, right? Little worries like that prodding at her head don't exactly help. In fact, they're probably why it's taking so long for her to form the right words. Once the other three leave the cabin, she opens her eyes and makes a show of huffing at the ceiling as if it were the source of her problems. She supposes in some roundabout way it is, because if the Questers never existed then she likely wouldn't have known Zack as well as she did which means she wouldn't have to be in the situation she is now. But, the rational Natalie-esque part of her brain is saying, she would encounter this same problem, just with a different person. She flips off the ceiling anyway. ---- As soon as Michael wakes up, she moves herself so she's sitting on the couch rather than sprawled out on it. "Michael, you're smart." she begins, then realizes that's probably not the best way to start the conversation. "Yeah? Where are you going with this?" Ava shrugs and focuses her gaze on the tarantula instead of him. "How would you tell someone you care about important information about yourself? Even if you knew it would end things between you and that person, and they might think you're weird afterwards?" She scuffs the floor with her shoe before looking back at him. Michael's expression turns thoughtful. "I would be honest, I guess. That's better than hiding a secret." Ava sighs, slow and dramatic, but she manages a smile regardless. "Thanks." She stands up to leave, but Michael stops her. "You know, Zack would never think bad about you." He's smiling in a way that makes him look older than he really is, and Ava figures that the wisdom of Athena showing. She returns his smile, but she doesn't feel nearly as confident as she looks when she says, "I know." She figures, maybe when she stops doing this, she should be an actress someday. She leaves the cabin, and immediately after stepping through the doorway bumps into Zack. "Hey." she blurts out. "Hey." And the words are tumbling out of her mouth. "Can I talk to you? Alone?" He nods and as soon as the two enter the HQ Michael get the memo and makes himself scarce. Ava takes the couch before Zack can, and for a moment everything seems normal. They're just hanging out as usual, just being dumb teenagers who also happen to be demigods. Then she notices his rigid posture in the recliner, and she remembers why they're in this situation. So, rather than tread cautiously like Nat does and always tells her to do, she says, "I think we should break up." She winces at the way the words come out, and immediately tries a different approach. "Not for the reasons you think. Or might be thinking. I've been talking with Annie, and apparently I'm not as straight as I thought I was." Zack tilts his head. "What do you mean?" "I'm aromantic and asexual. Basically it means I don't feel attracted to anyone, ever, in any way." She looks down at the floor where their shoes are almost touching but not quite, and she has the brief thought that perhaps it was like that their entire relationship, not just recently. "Oh. Uh, okay." Zack deflates somewhat; his eyes grow clouded with something Ava can't help but feel guilty about. "That isn't...weird to you? That I'm -" "No. Gods, no." Ava figures that neither of them should be smiling now, whether fake or not, yet the corner of her mouth lift up somewhat at his words. Her body relaxes, albeit only slightly. "I'm sorry, Zack." she says truthfully. "I know this awkward, but we can still be friends, right?" Because the alternative would mess up the Questers' dynamic too much, and because she can't bear to lose someone in her life as important as Zack over this. "Yeah, of course." He smiles, but it doesn't completely reach his eyes when he stands up which is to be figured. One of his feet brush against hers, and she lets herself stay calm. He needs the space right now, and she figures she needs it herself in order to completely sort out her feelings. wip Category:Leafwhisker Category:The Questers (OC Club) Category:One-shot